Adjustable seats having lazy tong supports



Jul 25, 1961 J. w. TATTER 2,993,675

ADJUSTABLE SEATS HAVING LAZY TONG SUPPORTS Filed April 23, 1959 2Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. JOHN W. TATTER V/ ATTY July 25, 1961 J. w.TATTER ADJUSTABLE SEATS HAVING LAZY TONG SUPPORTS Filed April 25, 1959 2Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.6

FIGS

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FIG.9

"I llll INVENTOR. JOHN W. TATT ER ATTY.

United States Patent 2,993,675 ADJUSTABLE SEATS HAVING LAZY TONGSUPPORTS John W. Tatter, Akron 19, Ohio, assignor, by decree ofdistribution, to Marie W. Tatter and John Wilbur Tatter, in equalproportions Filed Apr. 23, 1959, Ser. No. 808,485 3 Claims. (Cl. 248421)This invention relates to seats and more particularly to an adjustableseat adapted for assembly with a rowboat seat, picnic bench seat,stadium seat, a convention chair, and the like.

Some objects of the present invention are to provide a comfortablechair-type seat that is readily adjustable for height and forward orbackward movement relative to the surface on which it is supported, willswivel, has locking means for selected adjusted positions, and has meansfor locking the seat in compact collapsed condition for convenience intransporting or storage.

Other objects are to provide a strong, rigid seat whose parts may beeconomically manufactured and assembled. Further objects and advantageswill be manifest to those familiar with the art by reference to thefollowing description and the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the extended seat;

FIG. 2 is the same as FIG. 1 but on a reduced scale and shown collapsedwith the folding seat and the clamping brackets removed;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5--5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a plan view taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is the same as FIG. 6 except the locking mechanism is shown inits open position;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view along line 88 of FIG. 6 illustrating, inbroken lines, the disengaged position of the locking mechanism as shownin FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an elevational view taken along 99 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is an elevational view taken along line 10-10 of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 11 is a plan view taken along line 1111 of FIG. 1.

The seat structure herein illustrated provides certain novel andimproved elements to the seat structure described in my Patent Number2,749,969.

By reference to the present drawings it will be seen that the seatembodying the present invention is referred to generically as 10 andcomprises, a base 11; a support plate 12, a combined chair seat 13 andback 14 removably and rotatably mounted on plate 12; lazy tong means 15connecting base 11 and support plate 12; locking means 16 for lockingthe lazy tong mechanism in predetermined selected positions; adjustableseat attachment means 17 for removable attachment of base 11 to asupporting surface; and means for retaining the seat 10 in its extremecollapsed condition.

Referring now to the drawings in more detail, base plate portion 11 ispreferably a one piece stamping in somewhat grille-like form as shown.The forward and rear laterally outer edge portions of base 11 are turnedupwardly and are provided with rivets 21 whose shank portion pivotallymount the lower ends of the lower links of the lazy tong. The adjustableseat attachment means 17 comprise a forward and a rear pair of bars 21and 22 having forward hooked ends adapted to hook about the edges of aconventional rowboat seat, and the like. Bars 21 and 22 are providedwith slots 23, 24 and 25, 26 respectively and are mounted on base 11 insliding 2,993,675 Patented July 25, 1961 relation therewith by means ofrivets 27 and thumb screws 28 as will be understood by reference toFIGS. 1 and 11. It is to be noted that the slots in bars 21 and 22terminate at one end in a widened portion through which the head of therivets 27 for detachment of these bars from said base. The underside ofbase 11 is designed to contact the surface of a seat on which thepresent seat is to be mounted and the present invention contemplatescovering the lower surface of the base with felt or rubber to provideprotection to surfaces in which the base comes into contact.

The chair seat support plate 12 like said base is preferably a one piecestamping of generally circular form with two pairs of turned down ears29 and 30 which are provided with rivets 31 whose shank portionspivotally mount the upper ends of the upper links of the lazy tong aswill be seen by reference to the drawings. Support 12 has a centrallydisposed circular hole 32 therethrough which receives a downwardlyprojecting stud 33 extending from the central area of chair seat 13.Stud 33 has annular groove 34 (FIG. 5) in which the edges of the narrowportion of a slot 35 in elongated bar 36 slides and locks the chair seat13 rotatably to support 12. A raised rib 5 extends in a circle adjacentthe outer edge of support 12 and cooperates with a complementary groove4 in the bottom 13 to provide a contact surface between said support andbottom whereby localized strain on support 12 is avoided and lateralstability between the support plate and the chair bottom is provided.Groove 35 terminates at one end in an enlarged portion 35a through whichstud 33 will pass for insertion and removal of the stud from slot 35.Plate 36 has a second slot 37 aligned with slot 35 and in which theshank of rivets 38 projecting from support 12 are disposed and permitplate 36 to slide in relation to the support, the heads of rivets 38retaining plate 36 in its sliding relation relative to the support. Tomount the chair seat the said enlarged portion of slot 35 is alignedwith hole 32 of the support and stud 33 inserted through the alignedholes after which plate 36 is slid endwise bringing the lateral edges ofthe narrow portion and the edge of the end of slot 35 into the annulargroove 34 of the stud. Means for positively locking the chair seat tothe support include an angular arm 40 pivotally mounted at rivet 41 on abracket 42 the latter being riveted to support 12.

Ann 40 is normally retained back of bar 36 by spring 43 as shown inFIGS. 1 and 4. As best shown in FIG. 5 the inboard end of bar 36 isturned downwardly at a angle and then inwardly at a 90 angle forming abolt portion 4 whose function will be explained as the descriptionproceeds. To slide bar 36 to align enlarged portion 35a with hole 32,for installing the chair seat as explained above, the arm 40 is manuallypivoted, out of the way, of the inboard end, of the bar and when the baris slid back, into locking position relative to stud 33, arm 4%) isreleased and is returned to and retained, in

position, back of the end, of bar 36 where the arm blocks slidingmovement, of the bar in one direction and the end of slot 35, againststud 33, blocks sliding movement, of the bar, in the opposite direction.

Said lazy tong means 15 connecting base plate 11 and support plate 12comprise a pair of hinged arms 50 and 51 connecting each pair of cars2929a and 3 -13% (see FIGS. 1 and 2). The pairs of arms connecting theseplates on one side are identical to the pair of arms on the other side,and the pairs of arms on each side are oppositely angled (see FIG. 1)and the arms on one side are connected with the arms on the other sideby means of cross bars 52 and 53 each of which are coaxially disposedwith respect to the axes of the hinges connecting cor responding pairsof arms. The cross bars 52 and 53 are preferably rectangular in crosssection. Means for locking the lazy tong mechanism in selected positionsof extension will now be described. A pair of identical spaced parallelstrap-like bars 54 and 55 have their rear ends riveted to rear cross bar52 and extends forwardly over and beyond cross bar 53 in sliding contactrelation with the top surface of the latter. Identical thin strips 56and 56a of spring steel, only strip 56 being shown, have their rear endportions riveted to said rear cross bar 52 and these spring strips 56and 56:: extend forwardly underneath bars 54 and 55 respectively butterminate short of the forward ends of the latter bars. Ratchet bars 57and 58 extend forwardly from the forward ends of strips 56 and 56arespectively, the rear ends of the ratchet bars being riveted to thefront end of the spring strips (FIG. 8). The ratchet bars extend undercross bar 53 and terminate at their forward ends flush with the forwardends of bars 54 and 55 which they underlie.

A pair of bars 59 and 60 having longitudinal slots 61 and 62 are rivetedto and underlie in spaced relation the forward reaches of bars 54 and 55respectively, so that slots 61 and 62 expose the teeth of said ratchetbars to pawls 63 and 64 integral with bar 53, and formed by turningdownwardly portions of the edge of bar 53 as will be seen by referenceto FIGS. 6 and 8. It will now be seen that the ratchet bars areresiliently supported against said pawls by said spring steel strips.

A cross bar 70 is riveted, at its ends, to the forward ends, of theratchet bars and it will further be seen that by manually pressing bar70 downwardly the ratchet teeth will be disengaged from the pawls 63 and64-. A limit to the downward movement of the ratchet bars is provided bya stop bar 71 riveted to cross bar 53 and having its ends turneddownwardly and longitudinally outwardly under the ratchet bars.

It will be noted that the lazy tong structure is confined to a straightpath movement normal to the base plate 11 by reason of equalizing links9 one of said links being hinged to bar 52 and to an intermediateportion of arm 50 of the front hinged pair of arms and the other of saidarms 9 is hinged to bar 53 and to an intermediate portion of arm 51 ofthe rear hinged pair of arms. The pair of links 9 on each side of theseat structure are disposed in same vertical plane, and of much shorterlength than the arms 50 and 51 and when the mechanism is collapsed, thelinks 9 clear each other. Referring to each lazy tong assembly, it willbe observed that arms 50 and 51 are disposed in planes laterally offsetto each side of the plane of links 9.

As the lazy tong means is fully extended, the pawls of bar 53 engage thelast notch of the ratchet bar the cross bars 52 and 53 being as closetogether as possible. As the lazy tong is collapsed bars 52 and 53 areprogressively moved apart with bar 52 sliding forwardly under bars 54and 55 and over grooved bars 59, 60 and ratchet bars 57, 58. Of course,such sliding movement cannot occur where pawls 63 and 64 have been urgedby springs 56 and 56a, into engagement with the ratchet teeth of thebars 57 and 58. Thus, in operation, to collapse the lazy tong bar 70 ismanually pressed downwardly freeing the pawls from the ratchet teeth andpermitting bar 53 to slide bringing the pawls over any selected notches,of the ratchet bar, when bar 70 is released the said springs raise theratchet bar upwardly and the pawls engage the selected notches holdingthe lazy tong from further collapsing or so long as the pawls are sodisposed relative to the ratchet bars.

An important feature of the invention is the provision 70, by rivet 83,and functions to move bolt bars 81 and 82 in locked position over thefront edge portions of slotted bars 59 and 60 respectively asillustrated in FIGS. 6 and 9. Handle is pivoted a distance outwardlyfrom its inner end and is laterally offset so that when the lockingmechanism is closed the outer reach of the handle is disposed out of theway as shown in FIG. 6. Bars 81 and 82 have slots 84 and 85 respectivelyto receive, in sliding relation fixed rivets 86 and 87 upstanding frombar 70. The inner ends of bars 81 and 82 are pivotally riveted to handle80 on opposite sides of rivet 83 as best shown in FIG. 7. Thearrangement is such that the movement of the outer end of the handletoward bar 70 rocks bars 81 and 82 endwise toward bars 59 and 60respectively and when the outer portion of the handle comes into contactwith bar 70 the free ends of links 81 and 82 are locked over bars 59 and60, with bars 81 and 82 in alignment, as shown in FIG. 6, in whichrelative positions bar 70 cannot be pressed downwardly, and the pawls 63and 64- are locked in contact, with teeth of the ratchet bar, which inturn, securely locks the lazy tong from collapsing or expansion. It willnow be seen that the lazy tong can be freed for expansion or collapsingby manually swinging handle 80 to its opening position (see FIG. 7) andpressing bar 70 downwardly to free the pawls from the ratchet barthereby freeing cross bars to move with the linkage of the lazy tong.The springs carrying the ratchet bars are particularly useful whenraising the seat to a desired high position since only a free hand ofthe operator need be used to pull the top of seat upwardly and the pawlswill automatically be snapped into the successive notches of the ratchetbar.

The means for retaining the seat in its collapsed condition will now beexplained. Referring again to FIG. 5 the bolt portion 44 of the inboardend of bar 36 is adapted to slide into a slot 90 of eart91 integral withbase 11 and turned upwardly therefrom. When the lazy tong is in itsmaximum collapsed form bolt 44 is disposed in the plane of the slot 90and may be moved into or out of this slot by manually pulling bar 36outwardly to lock or inwardly to unlock the lazy tong. Such locking ofthe seat in collapsed condition facilitates carrying the seat to or fromwhere it is to be used.

The removable chair seat portion includes means for limited adjustmentof the back 14, relative to seat 13, Which means comprise a pair ofsimilar generally triangular plates 100, only one being shown, attachedto each rear corner seat 13 by rivets 101. The forward edge 109 ofplates are turned outwardly to form the support for the back 14 throughthe medium of angular plates 102 pivotally bolted at 103 to the lowerend portions of the frame of back 14. Rivets 104 project laterallyoutwardly from the upper end of plates 102 and project through slots 106for sliding movement therein. The free ends of rivets 104 are threadedand receive nuts 107 which are adapted to be tightened against the frame105. The back 14 may be folded forwardly into the plane parallel withthe plane of the seat 13 and to this end the axes of the bolts at 103are aligned and are raised above the plane of the top surface of seat 13a distance approximately equal to the width of the sides of frame 105.The lower end portions of plates 102 rock backwardly as the seat back isfolded forwardly and frame 105, including 7 its shoulder-rest 108, foldsabout seat 13, frame 105 coming to rest against the upper edge ofportions 109 of plates 100. The design is such that the back 14 is freeto move into operational position where it is supported by the lower endof plate 100 coming into contact with the said turned edge portions 109of plates 100. A limited adjustment movement of the back 14 relative toplates 100 is provided by rivets 104 in slots 106. Back 14 may be rockedmoving rivets 104 to selected positions in slots 106 when tightening ofnuts 107 will anchor the back in that position. It all now be seen thatthe seat 10 may be collapsed as illustrated in FIG. 2 with the seat 13and back 14 in folded relation mounted on support 12 in which conditionthe assembled seat is in convenient extremely compact form lockedtogether for transportation or storage.

It will now be seen that the present invention provides a seat havingmany novel and useful features including, by way of example, thefollowing:

1) If the seat is to be used for a. child at a dining table the bars 21and 22 may be removed from base 11 and the base placed on a dining chairand the seat 13 raised to the desired height for the child.

(2) If the present seat is to be used on a picnic table bench hookedbars 21 and 22 not only anchor the seat to the bench but also providemeans whereby the seat 11 can be moved toward or away from the picnictable as is often convenient. This is accomplished by the positions ofbars 21, 22 relative to base 11 selected and anchored by thumb-screws28. This adjustment is a useful feature when seat 10 is mounted on aboat seat, particularly if the occupant is fishing.

(3) The detachable feature of chair seat 13 is useful as the seat andback may be used on stadium seats and the like, it being understood thatwell known seat attachment means may be provided under the front edge ofthe seat bottom 13. Usually such means are U shaped and retained out ofthe way flat against the under surface of the seat by springs when nothooked about the edge of a supporting seat.

(4) The means for positive locking the lazy tong against collapsing whenin use is a safety feature of great value.

(5) The support of seat 13 on its support 12 by their contact along acircle of large diameter avoids rocking and wear between these parts.

(6) Means for adjusting the back 14 of the seat relative to seat bottom13 is for the comfort of the seat occupant; and

(7) All elements of the seat, except rivets, springs, nuts etc., aremetal stampings which makes the seat economical to manufacture andassemble.

The detailed description of the particular embodiment of the inventionillustrated and described hereinabove is not to be construed as limitingthe invention thereto. The invention includes all features of patentablenovelty residing in the foregoing description and the accompanyingdrawings.

In the claims:

1. An adjustable seat of the character described comprising, lazy tongmechanism, a chair seat support plate mounted on the lazy tongmechanism, a chair seat, means for mounting the chair seat on saidsupport plate in removable and rotatable relation therewtih; said meanscomprising a centrally disposed hole through the support plate, a roundstud projecting downwardly from the central area of the chair seat, saidstud projecting into said hole and a distance beyond the under surfaceof the support plate, an armular groove about that portion of the studthat projects beyond said under surface, a slotted bar attached to theunder surface of the support plate in sliding relation, longitudinallyof the bar, therewith; said stud projecting into said slot and saidannular groove being disposed in the plane of the edges of said slot,said slot having a narrow portion with parallel sides and a width lessthan the diameter of the stud at the groove therein, said groove beingadapted to receive in sliding relation the said parallel edges of theslot and thereby retain the chair seat attached to the support plate;said slot having a wide portion for reception or removal of the stud toor from the slot; means attached to the under surface of the supportplate to lock the slotted bar against sliding movement when the edges ofthe slot are disposed in said groove; said support plate and chair seathaving cooperating circular contact surfaces remote from the hole in thesupport plate and the stud in the chair bottom respectively.

2. An adjustable seat of the character described comprising, lazy tongmechanism, a chair seat support plate mounted on the lazy tongmechanism, a chair seat, mea s for mounting the chair seat on saidsupport plate in removable and rotatable relation therewith; said meanscomprising a centrally disposed hole through the support plate, a studprojecting downwardly from the central area of the chair seat, said studprojecting into said hole and a distance beyond the under surface of thesupport plate, an annular groove about that portion of the stud thatprojects beyond said under surface, a slotted bar attached to the undersurface of the support plate in sliding relation, longitudinally of thebar, therewith; said stud projecting into said slot and said annulargroove being disposed in the plane of the edges of said slot, said slothaving a narrow portion with parallel sides and a width less than thewidth of the stud at the groove therein, said groove being adapted toreceive in sliding relation the said parallel edges of the slot andthereby retain the chair seat attached to the support plate; said slothaving a wide portion for recepiton or removal of the stud to or fromthe slot; means attached to the under surface of the support plate tolock the slotted bar against sliding movement when the edges of the slotare disposed in said groove.

3. An adjustable seat of the character described comprising supportmechanism, a chair seat support plate mounted on the support mechanism,a chair seat, means for mounting the chair seat on said support plate inremovable and rotatable relation therewith; said means comprising acentrally disposed hole through the support plate, a stud projectingdownwardly from the central area of the chair seat, said stud projectinginto said hole and a distance beyond the under surface of the supportplate, a groove in that portion of the stud that projects beyond saidunder surface, a slotted bar attached to the under surface of thesupport plate in sliding relation, longitudinally of the bar, therewith;said stud projecting into said slot and said groove being disposed inthe plane of the edges of said slot, said slot having a narrow portionwith parallel sides and a width less than the width of the stud at thegroove therein, said grooved portion of the stud being adapted toreceive in sliding relation the said parallel edges of the slot andthereby retain the chair seat attached to the support plate; said slothaving a wide portion for reception or removal of the stud to or fromthe slot; and means attached to the support plate to lock the slottedbar against sliding movement when the edges of the slot are disposed insaid groove.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

